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Drop Tower
A drop tower or big drop is a type of amusement ride incorporating a central structure or tower. Drop towers vary in height, passenger capacity, lift type, and brake type. Many are custom-made, although there are some mass-produced designs. Riders experience free-fall initially, followed by rapid heavy deceleration. A drop tower or big drop is a type of amusement ride incorporating a central structure or tower. Drop towers vary in height, passenger capacity, lift type, and brake type. Many are custom-made, although there are some mass-produced designs. Riders experience free-fall initially, followed by rapid heavy deceleration. With most drop towers, a gondola carrying riders is lifted to the top of a large vertical structure, then released to free-fall down the tower. Brakes activate to slow the gondola as it approaches the bottom of the ride. Some designs expand on this concept with features such as rotating gondolas, or several bounces before coming to rest. Most drop towers require child riders to exceed a minimum height; limits vary widely depending upon the nature of the tower, with a 30-foot (9 m) tower for smaller children from 37 inches (95 cm) tall, and a 115-foot (35 m) tower having a 51-inch (130 cm) restriction. Certain drop towers propel the gondola down as they fall, accelerating the gondola faster than the riders, and leading to riders being lifted out of their seats. Ride designs Mass-produced tower rides include: * FlightLine Free Fall Ride * Double Shot (air-powered blast up twice) * The Piledriver * Space Shot (air-powered blast up) * Spring Ride / Family Tower * Super Shot * Turbo Drop (air-powered blast down) * Intamin Drop Tower * Z-Force (Zamperla shot'n'drop tower) * Flash Tower (Zamperla shot'n'drop tower) * Hurakan Condor (Multi-ride with variants) Examples Tallest vertical drop towers * denotes that the drop tower is scheduled currently under construction. Other examples * Big Shot on the top of the Stratosphere Las Vegas reaching 1,081 feet (329 m) was the highest situated drop tower ride in the world, with a drop of 160 feet (49 m) to a base 921 feet (281 m) above ground level * Space Probe located at Wonderland Sydney in Australia * The Cliff Hanger located at Cliffs Amusement park * Drop Tower: Scream Zone at five Cedar Fair parks * Oh-Zone! Located at Lake Winnepesaukah * Super Shot often found at Midway * Volcanic Eruption at Fantasy Island, Skegness * Apocalypse at Drayton Manor * Detonator at Thorpe Park * Tango Ice Blast at Pleasure Beach Blackpool * Drop Zone at Alabama Splash Adventure * Atmosfear at Morey's Piers, Wildwood, New Jersey * The Megadrop owned by RCS Fair Rides * The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at multiple Disney parks worldwide. * Scream! at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Dominator at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom * EKstreme at Enchanted Kingdom (Laguna, Philippines) * Supreme Scream at Knott's Berry Farm * Doctor Doom's FearFall at Islands of Adventure * The High Fall at Movie Park Germany * Drop Dead at the London Dungeon * Det gyldne tårn ("The Golden Tower") at Tivoli Gardens * UFO Adventures at Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village * Acrophobia at Six Flags Over Georgia * Gyro Drop at Lotte World * Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! at Disney California Adventure Park Injuries and accidentsedit See also: Intamin § Safety Incidents * Following the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom incident, all the towers were closed and the Carowinds model was found to have "stretched" cables.5 * On February 24, 2012, 14-year-old Gabriella Yukari Nichimura died in an accident at Hopi Hari, Vinhedo, São Paulo State, Brazil. She fell from the drop tower ride "La Tour Eiffel" suffering cranial trauma and died on the way to the hospital. Local police are investigating the accident.[needs update] Initial investigations suggested the possibility of mechanical failure in the restraint latch Category:Ride Types Category:Vertical Rides Category:Flat Rides